Russian Lecturer Let Go as Part of Budget Cuts

By Hyun Soo Kim
Associate News Editor

As a result of MIT's effort to reduce its deficit, the Russian program will
lose a popular lecturer next term. The cut will eliminate six advanced
Russian language and literature courses next year and limit the options for
completing a Russian concentration, minor, or major.

The Foreign Languages and Literatures Section decided not to renew Elena
Semeka-Pankratova's contract because of low enrollments in the Russian
program. Semeka-Pankratova taught advanced courses in Russian language and
literature at MIT for the past 12 years.

Higher level French classes will also have fewer sections, and one
part-time French instructor will be eliminated next year, according to
Section Head Isabelle de Courtivron.

President Charles M. Vest appointed a task force to examine academic
activities and budgets in late January. The task force directed each school
to trim its budget by 6 percent over the next four years.

Most other schools have not made concrete decisions abouting staffing
because their budget proposals are still under review.

`Obsolete' courses are cut

"In these times of budgetary crisis, we see student interest and student
need and cut courses that have been obsolete and not in demand," de
Courtivron said. She added that there is currently a large demand for
Japanese language classes.

"I'm not speaking as much for myself. From the beginning, I told her [de
Courtivron] of course I feel bad for myself, but more for my students,"
Semeka-Pankratova said.

"It's true that the enrollment for Russian I for the last couple of years
dropped. But the [trend] could not yet affect advanced courses. Last
semester, I taught contemporary prose and poetry, a very advanced course,
and I had 12 students, which is for the course, a very high enrollment. I
now have 23 to 24 students in Russian IV," Semeka-Pankratova said.

She added, "I have a pool of students who take three or four courses with
me and go higher and higher."

This semester, she has over twenty students in Russian Novel of the
Nineteenth Century (21.317), which will definitely be kept in the program
according to de Courtivron.

Students contest reason for decision

Many students interested in Russian strongly disapprove of the department's
decision. Helene D. Grogan '94, who is pursuing a minor in Russian studies,
has written a petition to challenge this decision. It has not yet been
circulated widely.

The Russian major consists of eight culture, language, and literature
classes, six of which will be eliminated next year. "There's not much of a
minor or major left," said Lyudmila Tsirulnik '96.

"I think that the administration is making a mistake by getting rid of the
advanced level of classes. I was thinking of minoring in Russian, but I
heard there won't be enough courses to fulfill the minor unless you have
already taken some of them," said Rachel D. Caileff '95.

"The department says the classes are under-subscribed, but it is wrong.
Semeka-Pankratova has usually six or more people in her classes. She is
popular with people taking Russian. ... It is not fair for the Russian
department, which just shows what MIT thinks of a humanities major,"
Tsirulnik said.

"If you make the Russian department smaller, then even less people will
take Russian," said Daniel Katz '94, who also said he will not be able to
major in Russian.

It would be a major inconvenience to take courses at Harvard or Wellesley
because of time and schedule conflicts, said Tsirulnik. "They should really
think about the students. It's not just that the most popular teacher is
being layed off. The department is not thinking about students' time or how
they will get a major that was promised, but not kept," Tsirulnik
said.

Lecturer is well-liked

"One consequence I was upset about was that Semeka-Pankratova is
essentially out of a job. She is one of my favorite professors at MIT. She
brings so much to her classes because she lived in Russia. It'll be a shame
if she had to leave," Grogan said.

"She is the only one qualified to teach the classes. She is a native
speaker and got a doctorate from Moscow State University," Tsirulnik said.
Native Russian students who have an interest in culture or history now have
few options, she added.

Semeka-Pankratova has been analyzing contemporary Russian. "The way they
speak Russian now in Russia has changed significantly. With the change in
political climate, the language changed so dramatically that it takes even
me a while to understand what they are writing about. ... Students need to
know contemporary language," she said.